A federal appeals court has given South Dakota pro-life advocates a victory by rejecting Planned Parenthood’s attempt to block a South Dakota law. The informed consent law is designed to help persuade women to consider positive alternatives to abortion.
For background, read Judge: Abortion Kills Living Human Being and also read SD Law Mandates Pro-life Counseling Pre-Abortion as well as Pro-life Legislation Floods America
UPDATE 6/27/12: Federal judge OKs abortion restrictions taking effect July 1st
-- From "Appeals court upholds most of South Dakota abortion law" by Andrew Stern, editing by Greg McCune, Reuters 9/2/11
An appeals court on Friday upheld much of a South Dakota law setting out what a pregnant woman should be told 24 hours before an abortion, including that the procedure would "terminate the life of a whole, separate, unique, living human being."
The statement assures the woman that she should not feel pressured into having an abortion, the court said. The statement "conveys legal information that is truthful, not misleading, and relevant to the abortion decision," the court said.
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From "Court: Docs can discuss mother-fetus relationship" by Kristi Eaton, Associated Press 9/2/11
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said U.S. District Judge Karen Schreier was incorrect when she ruled it was unconstitutional for doctors to be required to tell patients there is a relationship between mother and fetus.
But the court said Schreier was correct in striking down parts of the state's abortion law that require doctors to tell patients that undergoing the procedure increases the likelihood of suicide.
Both sides claimed victory Friday.
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From "Court: South Dakota Law Telling Women Abortion Risks OK" by Steven Ertelt, LifeNews.com 9/2/11
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit, today, upheld the majority of South Dakota’s informed consent law, including a requirement that doctors inform pregnant women that they have “an existing relationship” with an “unborn human being.” A lower court ruling had struck down that provision because the judge concluded that preborn children are not “persons.”
[The Alliance Defense Fund] filed the brief on behalf of the Family Research Council, CareNet, Heartbeat International, and The National Institute of Family and Life Advocates and its attorney, Harold Cassidy, appealed to the 8th Circuit on behalf of a group of pregnancy centers that successfully intervened in the suit to protect the interest of women.
Arguing that the “risk of suicide” provision should have been upheld, Circuit Judge Raymond Gruender wrote in dissent that “even the evidence relied upon by Planned Parenthood acknowledges a significant, known statistical correlation between abortion and suicide. This well-documented statistical correlation is sufficient to support the required disclosure that abortion presents an ‘increased risk’ of suicide, as that term is used in the relevant medical literature.” He noted that Planned Parenthood did not challenge the documented risks of depression.
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